


Change Is Strange

by lucybeetle



Category: Kamen Rider Ghost
Genre: F/M, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-03
Updated: 2015-11-03
Packaged: 2018-04-29 19:59:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5140667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucybeetle/pseuds/lucybeetle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-series. Some things haven't quite been the same for Akari.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Change Is Strange

Takeru wasn’t waiting when Akari arrived at the Daitenkuu temple. As she came in, she waved at the framed picture of him that now hung in the basement, “Hey.” 

The picture couldn't answer her, and of course, the real Takeru couldn't either. She would never get used to that change, not really; but she'd come to accept it, and that was the best she could do. Akari set up her laptop and began to review the calculations she'd prepared for her practical exam on Tuesday. She was thinking about margin of error, and unanticipated time constraints, and how the stress of exam conditions would affect her performance. Onari was never quiet when he entered a room, and yet she didn't notice he had arrived until he was already there in front of her.

"My beloved Akari-kun."

That was the other big change in her life.

He hugged her, and she hugged back, and returned to her computer. Normally she came over to the temple after school, they worked as late as they needed to and then had tea or ate together. Today, he didn't leave - "Are you busy?" he said.

She was, and her grade on this practical was important. Onari was also important, "Kind of ... but I can wait. Is something wrong?" 

"I was hoping to discuss a delicate matter with you."

"Delicate?" She couldn't think of what this might be. If he were upset with her, he would have just yelled at her, and she would have yelled back. Now that they were going to get married, it was probably time they learned to talk about things calmly; so she said "Sure, whatever."

"Shall we have tea?"

Making tea was always Onari's job, which was only fair, because he was better at it than Akari was. According to him, tea held a huge spiritual importance and was vital to the job of any priest. He was immensely proud that Shibuya, who had begun his training unable to even boil water, could now conduct a full tea ceremony including the flower arrangements. Akari knew this because Onari insisted on telling the story so many times. One disadvantage of his being her boyfriend now was that she had to pretend to actually listen to it.

Onari poured a cup for her and then said "If Akari-kun is not averse, I wanted to talk about our wedding."

"We don't need to plan it yet, right?" They intended to get married two weeks after Akari graduated from university, which would be in April the year after next; still more than a year away. She assumed it would be a traditional wedding, at the temple of course, and they'd have to get another priest in because obviously Onari wasn't allowed to perform his own wedding ceremony. Other than that, she honestly hadn't given it any thought.

"It is still rather early, but I was thinking more of your duties after we are married," he said.

" _What_!" Akari spat her tea out. She was about to tell him off for making her do something so gross, except that now she was choking. He hit her on the back with what she thought to be far too much enthusiasm.

"You know ... there will be no wedding if the bride asphyxiates," said Onari.

"That was your fault!" 

Her face had grown uncomfortably hot, and she wondered whether shoving him might make her feel better. Onari's expression fell as he noticed her too-pink cheeks, "Is something wrong? I simply wanted to ensure that you understood the significance of your future duties at the temple."

"… Temple. Yeah." That was one bridge not to have to cross. Akari knew that an eventual conversation about the physical side of their relationship was inevitable, but all the same she'd prefer not to have it today, "What duties, though? I'm not a priest."

"As my wife, you will play a vital role here. Akari-kun will be an important figure in the local community." Onari gestured grandly, and she hastily moved the teapot out of his way, "People call at all hours for advice and support. When Takeru-dono's father was alive, he would often attend to late-night visitors, and it became my responsibility after he passed on. Now it will be yours also."

"I never heard anyone coming over in the night," said Akari. 

"When you stayed here, you slept in Takeru-dono's room. Of course, I made certain not to wake him."

It was easy for her to forget sometimes that she and Onari weren’t all that far apart in age. He’d still been a young teenager when he became head priest of the temple and was left to take care of Takeru. Ever since then, he had pretty much managed everything single-handedly, and now he had Narita and Shibuya to think of too. Akari felt a rush of affection towards him, though it faded pretty quickly when she realised he was telling her that she’d have to get up in the night to deal with visitors. 

She was about to ask some more questions, but he’d continued speaking, and was now talking about funeral rites. Trying to interrupt Onari when he was in full flow was like trying to stop an express train; so she refreshed their cups and waited for him to finish. She was waiting for quite a while.

“When am I supposed to have time to do all this stuff?” she said eventually. “I’ll be working full-time.”

“You will not be working _every hour_ of the day." 

“I’ll be taking my Masters, then my doctorate … you don’t know how much work it is even at this stage … and my professors think that after everything I did with the Shiranui spray, I’ll win a Nobel Prize before I’m thirty! Which would be amazing, like Dr Sawagami Rinna won this year and she’s only 33 I think, but do you know what it’s gonna take for me to get there?”

Onari replied “A married couple should support each other in all endeavours. I will stand with Akari-kun in anything you choose to do, and I hope in turn that you will support me at the temple.”

He had a fair point, but even as an undergraduate she already had a busy schedule. The further she went in her career, the harder it would be. She didn’t see how she was going to have time for that, plus funerals, weddings, New Year, night-time callers and everything else Onari mentioned - all before they even _thought_ about having children. She blew on her fringe in frustration, ruffling her hair.

“It is exceptionally cute when you do that,” said Onari.

Akari swiped at him. “Shut up!” She caught him on the shoulder, but he lifted his cup in a smooth arc and took a sip of tea without spilling a single drop. It infuriated her that someone who gestured as wildly and took up space as unashamedly as he did could still manage to be more graceful than she.

He went on “I have not given news of our betrothal to the temple elders as yet, but they know about your friendship with Takeru-dono and your role in the defeat of the Ganma. They will think you are an eminently suitable bride.”

“And if they don’t, I guess the wedding’s off?”

Onari did spill his tea then, all over her sleeve. She was just about to get up and change, or clean up the spill, or call him a clumsy oaf, or all of the above when he put his arms around her and said “Certainly not. Akari-kun is the most precious person in my life.”

She didn’t have an answer to that, and Takeru still couldn’t speak (although she had an idea of what his response would be.) So she let Onari hold on to her until he said “I think relations with the temple elders are best left to me. Negotiating with them is a delicate process, and it has to be said that you are not the most tactful of people.”

“Are you saying I’m insensitive?!” Akari shrieked.

“ _I_ suggested no such thing. You said it.”

Out of all the changes that she had been through recently, this happened not to be one of them.

**Author's Note:**

> These two are my current ship, and they have that "bickering = sexual tension" going on in canon, so trying to write them together was a pretty awkward balancing act. They needed to argue enough to be IC, but be affectionate enough that they made a believable couple.
> 
> I am so sorry to make Takeru float away to the afterlife. I get the feeling that the show won't ever bring him back properly (otherwise, he can't use the powers of a ghost) so I operated on the worst-case scenario of him being gone and leaving his friends alone. It sucks, but he's probably around in this fic in spirit - not sure if pun intended.


End file.
